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Ottawa Branch would like to welcome Rod Jackson as our new Publicity Coordinator

Rod Jackson does not as a rule volunteer; must be his Air Force and reserve army days. Now retired, he worked in the computer business for over forty years. He lives in Burlington, ON.

He started genealogy in 1980, looking into his father’s family. As stated in his book “Thorgrimur’s Saga”, he took the road to find his ancestors. He joined Ottawa Branch to help research the McDonald family that settled near McCrimmon Corners about 1817. John McDonald petitioned for the Gore at Caledonia Township Prescott County. Rod soon discovered that there is a lack of reliable data from this corner of the world. His father’s family was a piece of cake compared to the McDonald family.

Ottawa Branch would like to welcome Ralph Manning as our new Membership Director

Ralph was born and raised in Toronto but has called Ottawa home for over 38 years.  A retired library manager, he holds a B.A. from the University of Toronto, a Masters Degree in Library Science from the University of Western Ontario, an M.A. from Carleton University and was a member of the first graduating class of the National Institute for Genealogical Studies.

He has been researching the various branches of his family tree for nearly 30 years and in 2005 he published the results of his research on the descendants of Benjamin Andrews and Mary Wright of Suffolk, England, most of whom immigrated to North America.  He won First Prize in the 2009-2010 OGS Keffer Writing Contest.  He continues to research his Suffolk ancestry as well as his ancestral lines in the East Midlands of England.  He also has links to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and is a descendant of the Russian Mennonites who fled to North America in the early 20th century.  His earliest Canadian ancestor arrived from Alsace-Lorraine in 1757 to help rebuild the Fortress at Louisbourg before switching to the English side and fighting with Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US

The first meeting of Ottawa Branch was held at the home of Wilfred Kearns on 13 Jan, 1970. At the time, OGS consisted of branches in Toronto, Hamilton and London. By May, Ottawa Branch had grown to 64 members.

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Ottawa Branch is one of 30 Branches of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS). The Ottawa Branch is “responsible” for Carleton, Lanark, Renfrew, Prescott and Russell Counties in Ontario. The Branch consists of members who seek and share information about family history searching. Its mission is “To encourage, assist and bring together all those interested in the pursuit of family history.” If you want to discover more about your family origins, or how and where to locate information about your ancestors, hundreds of our members will be there to help you.

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